3:1 scope in 12 ft of water with 4 ft of tide

Rode to pay out

57ft

3:1 over 19 ft of rise — 12 ft depth + 4 ft tide + 3 ft bow height

Rode length	57ft
Total rise12 depth + 4 tide + 3 bow — measured from the bow roller, not the waterline	19ft
Swing radiusthe circle you need clear of other boats and shoal	54ft
Swing diameterif the wind boxes the compass	107ft
Nominal scope	3:1
Effective scopethe usual small-boat setup	3:1
Rode type	rope with chain leader
At the 7:1 overnight standardmore than you are paying out now	133ft

Charted depth: 12 ft
Tidal range: 4 ft
Bow height: 3 ft
Scope: 3
Rode: rope with chain leader

Measure the rise, not the depth

Scope is rode length divided by the rise — and the rise is not the charted depth. It is depth plus tide plus the height of your bow roller above the water:

12 ft + 4 ft + 3 ft = 19 ft

At 3:1 with rope with chain leader, that is 57 ft of rode.

The bow height is the part people leave out. The anchor holds because of the angle the rode makes at the seabed, and that angle starts where the rode leaves the boat, not where it enters the water.

Tide, before you set

A tidal range of 4 ft means scope calculated at low water shrinks as the tide floods. Anchors drag on a rising tide, in the dark, when the boat you carefully anchored clear of is suddenly much closer than it was.

The number nobody calculates: swing radius

54 ft. That is the circle you need clear of other boats, moorings and shoal water — 107 ft across if the wind boxes the compass overnight.

More scope holds better and swings wider. In a crowded anchorage that trade-off, not holding power, is usually what limits you.

Set it, then check it

Back down at low revs until the boat stops moving with the rode taut. Take a transit on shore and watch it for a few minutes. An anchor that has not been set is a heavy object lying on the bottom, and it will tell you so at three in the morning.

Notes

Measure the rise from the bow roller, not the waterline. The anchor is held by the ANGLE of the rode at the seabed, and that angle starts where the rode leaves the boat. On a boat with 3 ft of bow height in 12 ft of water, leaving it out overstates your scope by 16%.
Add the tide before you set, not after. 4 ft of range means a 3:1 scope at low water becomes 3:1 at high — anchors drag on the flood, in the dark, when the boat you anchored clear of is suddenly close.
3:1 is a fair-weather, someone-on-watch scope. Overnight practice is 7:1, which here would be 133 ft of rode. Short scope is the most common reason anchors drag.
Rope pulls upward on the anchor shank as it tensions, which is why it needs more scope than chain. A chain leader of at least a boat length keeps the pull at the anchor horizontal and takes the chafe on the bottom.
Set it properly once it is down. Back down at low revs until the boat stops moving with the rode taut, then take a transit on shore and watch it for a few minutes. An anchor that has not been set is just a heavy object lying on the bottom.

Nearby sizes

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